We in the media often hear the comment that, “There’s only bad News” in the paper, on television or transmitted via whatever medium is under discussion.
My usual response is to point out that, nope, there’s lots of good News in the paper. Stories of heroism, charity, kindness and more are published weekly in our case, daily in others, by the minute online.
The question, it seems, is what do people remember? Apparently mostly the bad stuff, which I feel says more about human nature than any media preoccupation with negativity.
All that said, there’s no shortage of grim stuff either, from the latest Donald Trump outrage to our Canadian finance minister’s recent follies. Nuclear brinkmanship between the U.S. and North Korea, multiple massive refugee crises around the globe, whole islands in ruins from unprecedented weather events, the list goes on.
On other hand, media outlets are reporting unemployment is down and GDP growing in Canada, painting a rosy economic outlook. Canada’s big banks were reporting this week that Ontario’s economy is surging after years of lagging behind the oil-producing provinces and, yeah, as of this writing, the Leafs are in second place in the NHL and, get this, the odds-on (albeit kind of early) favourite to win the Stanley Cup. Perhaps that’s not enough to completely counterbalance the foregoing list of vexations, but it’s cause for some optimism at least.
Locally, a skim through this week’s Community News reveals a page one story of a local youth winning a battle with cancer and leading his schoolmates in fundraising for the Terry Fox Foundation this fall and:
– local volunteers, donors and an area radio station raising over $320,000 for hospitals in the region;
– plans for a large-scale memorial tree planting in memory of local resident Paul Day;
– a donation of $20,000 from the Drayton Kinsmen Club toward a splash pad for youths in Mapleton; and
– plans for the fifth annual Empowerment Day, a hugely successful inspirational event originated and organized by Mapleton elementary school students.
And that’s not even all the good News contained within this week’s eight-page edition. Look for yourself.
Yep. There’s also some bad News in this week’s edition, but I think, at least this week, it’s actually outnumbered by the positive stories. Now there’s some good News for you. Enjoy!
